Thomas Skernivitz

Berea

Senior Editor, American Fruit Grower Magazine at Meister Media Worldwide

Senior Editor of American Fruit Grower and American Vegetable Grower magazines, published by Meister Media Worldwide. Account 100% specific to agriculture.

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Articles

The Unique 'Equipment' Choices That Keep This Louisiana Apiary Buzzing

1 week ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Cheri’ Ben-Iesau owns and operates Big Branch Apiary in Lacombe, LA. Nestled between the Tammany Trace and Big Branch Wildlife Preserve, the farm offers honey, free-range eggs, and seasonal blueberry and flower U-picks. Ben-Iesau is also an American painter, author, and retired member of the U.S. Coast Guard. After serving in the Coast Guard, she utilized her GI Bill benefits to attend college back home.
Overheated Fruit Leads One Grower to a Cool Solution

3 weeks ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Sometimes it pays to answer those pesky sales calls. Joe Cataldo, the owner of J&M Farms in Lodi, CA, learned as much — the hard way — in 2018. Carrying a bucket of cherries, Cataldo walked into a local restaurant, bearing gifts and bad news. He had recently watched 3 inches of rain decimate his cherry crop.
Apple Grower Finding Growth on the Soil Moisture Fast Track

1 month ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Straight out of Washington State University, John Rawley learned really quick about the importance of irrigation and soil moisture monitoring. His first season in charge of four properties owned by Custom Orchards on the region’s Royal Slope will long be remembered for the heat dome of 2021, which drove triple-digit temperatures up to 40 degrees above normal between June 26 and July 2. “Some orchard managers were doing a good job of keeping up on water, and other ones weren’t,” Rawley recalls.
Your Virtual Pass To the IFTA 2025 Winter Orchard Tour

1 month ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

The 68th annual meeting of the International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA) convened Feb. 17-19 in Rochester, NY. The middle day of the event featured a largely frigid day-long tour of four western New York tree fruit orchards. As is frequently the case during IFTA’s winter events in the East and Midwest, the themes of the day were high-density plantings … and layering. Scroll through the photo gallery below for some of what was seen and heard during the IFTA 2025 Winter Orchard Tour.
How Kait Thornton - ‘The Apple Girl’ - Has Grown Into Being the Face of an Industry

1 month ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Kait Thornton spends her days and nights (and pretty much any time she can get a Wi-Fi connection) trying to guide the apple industry through dark times. Ironically, she does so from a Pacific Northwest town that does not have a stop light. To its credit, though, Tonasket, WA — population: 1,100 — did make waves recently upon erecting a blinking stop sign.
The World Ag Expo’s Top New Products for 2025

2 months ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

The World Ag Expo named its top 10 new products of 2025 in advance of its annual trade show, held Feb. 11-13 in Tulare, CA. Show exhibitors had nominated the first round of contestants and their new products, which ranged from simple solutions to high-tech devices.
Growers Want Help Against Cherry Leaf Spot Disease

2 months ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

What is going on with cherry leaf spot? Organizers of the recent Great Lakes Expo in Grand Rapids, MI, posed that question during one of their educational sessions in December. Tasked with answering the query were two Michigan tart cherry growers, a local commercial fruit production consultant, and George Sundin, the tree fruit disease specialist from Michigan State University who has been trying to replace fungicides that have turned obsolete the last 15 years.
From Surplus to Flux: Apple Harvest Numbers Remain a Challenge

2 months ago | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

he U.S. apple industry — one year after producing a record 289 million bushels — had been hoping for a sizable downturn in 2024 to potentially increase the price of its product. Unfortunately, last year’s apple harvest was not only plentiful once again but also larger than first estimated in August. Updated to account for December storage numbers, USApple has moved from its August estimate of 260 m bu to a current projection of between 260 and 300 m bu.
Grower's Choice: 4 Favorite Tools For The Long Haul

Jan 15, 2025 | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

Anna Littman, the Farm Director of Ivy Creek Family Farm in Barnardsville, NC, likes to farm smart — not hard — which means she relies heavily on tools that reduce risk and prevent the wear and tear on the body that is so synonymous with small-scale farming. She tries to bring three or four new tools onto the farm annually that may reduce labor. One, maybe two, usually stick and make a long-term impact on her enjoyment of farming and on the farm’s bottom line.
Hand Tools To Help Fruit Growers Save Time and Money

Jan 7, 2025 | growingproduce.com | Thomas Skernivitz

With the arrival of the New Year, three distributors of machinery and equipment — Daryl Shatto of Zenport Industries, Paul Licata of BDi Machinery, and Tim Brady of OESCO — provide advice on what hand tools can best help growers address labor issues within their orchards. Not surprisingly, top-of-the-line pruners are at the forefront. Orchard Issue: How are we going to pay for the orchard pruning? Inflation has taken a bite out of everyone’s wallet.